TALKING over coffee in a smart Edinburgh restaurant, Lady Barbara Judge is looking forward to heading on to Gleneagles but intent on avoiding the hotel’s famed golf course when she gets there.

The American businesswoman recalls past disappointments suffered after lessons learned on the greens of Perthshire failed to translate into success on courses closer to her adopted home in London.

“I can’t play golf, I thought I could,” she says ruefully.

“The magic of Gleneagles; they sprinkled fairy dust on my clubs but when I went back to England it was gone. It was like Cinderella at the ball, 12 o’clock came and it was all over.”

Lady Barbara, who became the first female chairman of the Institute of Directors in May after a career which has taken her from Wall Street to the boardrooms of big UK businesses, has had a long association with Scotland.

Ironically, she made her first speech in the country at Gleneagles on the subject of corporate governance in 1993.

She went on to serve on the board of Watson & Philip, when the company was a listed food distribution business based in Dundee.

As a director of United Asset Management she made frequent trips to Glasgow while the group owned the former Murray Johnstone operation in the city.

“I have a huge appreciation for the Scots and Scotland and for how beautiful and industrious and thoughtful the people are and very welcoming,” says Lady Barbara in the broad US accent she retains after years of holding down big jobs in places such as Hong Kong and London.

Highlighting the success of Scots business figures whom she has met, including Aberdeen Asset Management’s Martin Gilbert, Lady Barbara judges Scotland’s business scene to be vibrant.

She gives a particularly good review to the country’s insurance and financial services sectors. These are industries the corporate lawyer has come to know well over the years. Before moving to London in 1994, Lady Barbara served on the board of Samuel Montagu merchant bank and advised the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

While her title comes from being married to City grandee Sir Paul Judge, Lady Barbara was awarded a CBE in 2010 partly for her services to the financial services industries.

The Scotch sector also wins her approval.

"The whisky is amazing as is the branding. I think the whisky business is exceptional because they’ve managed to keep the brands intact and they’ve managed to keep to the highest end of the world market.”

When she lived in Asia Lady Barbara was struck by how many locals wanted to drink Scotch.

From her international perspective, the 68-year-old believes Scotland’s future lies in the UK.

“Personally I’m glad that we’re all together. I think it’s good for everyone, better together.”

Lady Barbara's view is coloured by her experience of the US and its federal system of government.

“I understand that local government is a good thing, regional government is a good thing and national government is a good thing. But my own opinion is we all benefit from being a bigger nation … a bigger country. We have more clout as a group than we do individually. And we have more clout in Europe and in the world and in this case one and one makes three.”

On the similarly contentious subject of the UK’s membership of the European Union she notes the IOD's 35,000 members are split.

“I have to deal with our members on this subject. Seven per cent would opt out totally, notwithstanding what happens; forty per cent would stay in totally, notwithstanding whatever happens, and the bulk would like to stay in but with reform.”

Lady Barbara has first hand knowledge of some aspects of the UE that could be improved.

“I have some sympathy with the people who want to leave because I used to be in the food business where I shipped raisins from Leeds to Manchester. The EU had a regulation about what kind of cardboard boxes I had to use for raisins that never went anywhere near anywhere other than Leeds and Manchester.

“So you can see why people are agitated. But if we’re going to have to deal with these regulations it would probably be better to be at the table so that we can have a say.”

However, the recent decision by the European Court of Justice on travel time payments for some workers did champions of the EU no favours.

“Why did they do that right now when everybody is so concerned about Europe and whether the UK is going to leave the EU?”

The best help any government can provide for businesses in Lady Barbara's opinion is to ensure “clarity with respect to regulation and less of it”.

Still, the IOD has been relaxed about George Osborne’s decision to require businesses to pay over 25s a minimum Living Wage of £7.20 per hour from April, which has outraged some big firms including Costa. Lady Barbara says this reflects the fact IOD mainly represents SMEs, which have much smaller workforces than big fish.

She wanted to become chairman to play a part in helping an organisation founded in 1903 develop to become more relevant to the modern world.

Lady Barbara has three priorities as chairman.

The first is increasing the involvement of women in the organisation.

“The IOD has always been open to women, it’s for lots of people but it’s been pretty male orientated.

“I want to open the door further and wider to women to make them feel not only able to walk in, but to make them feel comfortable and supported when they walk in.”

Lady Barbara is pleased to have brought in 40 new women members from a range of backgrounds in her brief time as chairman.

She recently organised a party for women at the IOD's grand headquarters on London’s Pall Mall, with help from Aberdeen Asset Management. Attended by the likes of home secretary Theresa May, the event was a great success.

Lady Barbara also wants to recruit more young people as members.

“I want the IOD to be a welcoming place for young entrepreneurs. For the young to feel supported as well and so that they will feel comfortable using all of the services.”

Her third priority is to reach out to people at the other end of the age spectrum. By pairing seasoned executives and professionals with young businesses, Lady Barbara believes the IOD could provide a big boost for hopefuls.

“All these young people with ideas; they have energy and talent but they could use a little wisdom and experience.”

The scheme could help keep older people engaged in society in the UK, which faces huge challenges associated with having an ageing population. Lady Barbara reckons many of those who are retired may not have wanted to stop work.

“For me retirement is a dirty word. It’s my worst nightmare.”

She has acquired painful awareness of how hard a life stage it can be for some people.

“My mum worked until she was 87 and the day she stopped working she got dementia.”

Lady Barbara seems determined to set an example by keeping up what sounds like an incredibly busy schedule. The latest visit to Gleneagles is being made in her capacity as chairman of the Pension Protection Fund, which provides support for pensioners who belong to schemes run by firms that hit problems.

Reflecting on a rich life, the dynamo concludes: “Such success as I may have achieved is down to my mother. Everything was inspired by her and how hard she worked to give women the opportunity to work.”